Morning journal and courier., 1887-03-17

DWelIers in Lower California.
 IFrem the Philadelphia Times
 ''There she is!'
 "Don't fire!"
 s'Give the dogs chance!"
 These and many other disconnected sen tences came from crowd of ladies and gen. tlemen who, we'll mounted and close upon pack of eager hounds, were pushing into a thick patch of underbrush in the center of the Arroyo Seco, dry canon or river just back of Pasadena, Cal.
 Here the gulch was well filled with tall trees, from whose branches there fell in rich festoons masses of wild grape and clematis that formed ropes that deftly caught riders beneath the chin, and so tied up the dogs that they often became fouled and yelped and howled in impotent rage. The party had started half mile below in the clear ing and had followed up the eager dogs that had now treed game of some kind, and as they gathered about the broken poplar high up in one of the branches there appeared long, 1.-the body clinging to the limb, while over the side peered the ugly face of the wildcat Excitement had been at fever pitch when the hounds struck the trail but now that the animal was in full view it fair ly boiled oyer even the horses appearing to be carried away by it.
 stStand back, ladiesl'' shouted the master of the hounds, who carried a light rifle, sssometimes cat will jump for her life, and they will scratch when they land"
 The ladies fell back little and youngs- ter in the party volunteered to climb the tree and dislodge the common enemy. Hand ing the .bridle of his horse to @ rider, he seized the pendent grapevine and swung up into the tree, and few minutes later was making his way along the branch toward the h oa{ S1ar iy,fn oo,oH in looking at the dogs that at first she did not see him. but when he rounded the trunk she suddenly caught sight of the new ene- my, drew back with quick growl, glanced this way and that, as if measuring the chances, and perhaps would have jumped, when the climber deftly struck her from be- hind and down she went, with a scream of rage into the red mouths below. The blood and fur flew, for puss was game, and not a | few good dogs backed out, wiping their \ heads and ragged ears. But the game was | up, and it was with great difficulty that the ! skin was saved for the rug, which is the tro | phy of the wildcat hunt.
 ! Hunting this short tailed feline is fea- 1 ture of southern California outdoor sports. l The deep canons that radiate down from the l Sierra Madres form their retreat and that of l large game in general. After a rain the 1 hunts are organized, as then the paw marks l are distinctly seen and the scent fresh, and ! as the storm clouds blow away from the mountain sides and the warm sun comes out, l the bay of the hounds of some sportsman is
 nearly always heard. The wildcat of this
 country is a large, powerful animal, ap- preaching the lynx, also found here, in size
 and general appearance, and large enough to inhict dangerous wounds upon man or beast. 1 On one occasion the hounds came upon 8
 fresh scent in an extremely narrow place in
 the canon, where precipitous rocks rose on
 one side and heavy brush upon the other.
 The dogs rushed into the latter, and mo
 ment later a large cat bounded into the mar
 row stream and began an intellectual scram
 ble up the rocky sides. A bullet caught hel
 before she had gone thirty feet, and turning
 with snarl of rage, she leaped directly into
 the air, fell upon the neck of broncho, dis
 mounted the rider in the melee, and before
 she could be dislodged tore and lacerated ths